India women's national under-20 football team

India Women's U-20
Shirt badge/Association crest
NicknameThe Blue Fillies
AssociationAll India Football Federation
ConfederationAsian Football Confederation (Asia)
Sub-confederationSAFF (South Asia)
Head coachJoakim Alexandersson
FIFA codeIND
First colours
Second colours
First international
India  0–4  South Korea
(Goa, India; 19 April 2002)
Biggest win
India  18–0  Pakistan
(Chonburi, Thailand; 24 October 2018)
Biggest defeat
Australia  18–0  India
(Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 12 November 2008)
Asian Cup
Appearances4 (first in 2002)
Best resultQuarter final (2004)
SAFF Championship
Appearances5 (first in 2018)
Best resultChampions (2022, 2024)

The India women's national under-20 football team represents India in international women's under-20 football in the AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup and the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. It is controlled by the AIFF.

History

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

FIFA organised U20 women's world cup in 2002 for the first time, and for qualification from Asian teams, only the finalist from AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup is allowed to enter into the tournament, which was also the same criteria for the next edition and since 2006 the top three teams from AFC U19 championships would be allowed to enter into U20 world cup. India failed to qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup as they failed to be finalist in any AFC U19 Championships till 2017 edition.[1][2]

AFC U-19 Women's Championship

The AFC U-19 Women's Championship serves as a qualifying competition for the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. For first three edition from 2002, it had been organised on every even years, and in all those three championships India participated. After 2006 Championship, it had been organised on every odd years since 2007 and coincidentally India failed to qualify for the Championships since then.

India hosted the inaugural AFC U-19 Women's Championship in 2002.[3] India U-19 failed to advance beyond group stage, finishing third in group. Indian girls lost to eventual champions Japan by 9−0 and South Korea by 4−0, only had a win against Guam by 6−0 but did not help much to move forward.

In next edition of championship held in China, India done well to reach quarter finals, winning against Hong Kong by 2−1, Singapore by 1−0 and a loss against Chinese Tapei by 0−3, and reaching the quarter final, their FIFA U20 Worldcup dream was shattered as was knocked out by North Korea by 0−10.[4]

For 2006 edition the qualification round started for AFC U19 Women's Championship, where India easily qualified, defeating Kyrgyzstan by 7−0 and Bangladesh by 9−0 which was their biggest win that time. 2006 AFC U-19 Women's Championship saw India finishing bottom of group, consisting of Asian heavyweights South Korea, North Korea and Japan, defeated by all these three team by huge goal difference of 11−0, 14−0 and 6−0 respectively. That's the last time India made it into the group stage of the AFC U-19 Women's Championship.[5]

India women u20 team celebrating after winning 1-0 against Myanmar at the 2026 AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifying tournament.
India celebrating after qualifying for the 2026 AFC U20 Asian Cup.

At the 2007 qualification India lost two games in the group stage against Myanmar by 1−2 and Thailand by 1−5 which cost the AFC Championships for the first time in 2007 edition.[6] Similar fate was in 2009 qualification tournament which was worse than before as India lost all the group matches and the worst performance came against Australia, where the Australian girls defeated the Indian by a huge 18−0, thus their biggest defeat till now.[7] Next four edition, the girls seen similar scenario with zero luck to enter in the championships. For 2019 AFC U-19 Women's Championship India faced Pakistan, Nepal and Thailand in round 1 at the 2019 Championship qualification where they won two match defeating Pakistan by 18−0 which is their biggest win till now[8] and host Thailand by 1−0[9] and a defeat by Nepal with 0−2,[10] but India failed to move to round 2 courtesy of their head-to-head result against Nepal. While Thailand, Nepal and India finished on three points, the goal difference between just these three teams were counted, which left Thailand at the top with a +2 goal difference, while India and Nepal were tied at -1, due to this, the head-to-head result between India and Nepal came into play again, and Nepal go through and India left behind.[9]

SAFF U-18 Women's Championship

2018 SAFF U-18 Women's Championship, at Bhutan, is the inaugural edition of the SAFF U18 championships being organised by SAFF on every even years to align with the AFC U19 Championships and FIFA U20 Worldcup. It's a preparatory tournament for the South Asian teams for AFC U19 championship qualification round. India thrashed host Bhutan and Maldives by 4−0[11] and 8−0[12] respectively in the group matches, reaching to the semi-finals they lost to Nepal through penalty shoot-out by 1−3 as the full-time ended in a 1−1 tie,[13] thus their dream of first SAFF u18 champion ended here but they won the third place in the tournament by defeating Bhutan again by a solitary goal.[14]

SAFF U-19 Women's Championship

The 2024 SAFF U-19 Women's Championship is the fifth edition of the SAFF U-18/19/20 Women's Championship, an international football competition for women's under–19 national teams organized by SAFF. On 07 February 2024, India beat Nepal 4–0 to enter SAFF U-19 Women's Championships final and shared the title in the final with Bangladesh.[15][16]

Recent results and fixtures

The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Fixture

2025

14 July Friendly Uzbekistan  1–1  India Tashkent, Uzbekistan
20:30 UTC+5:30 Report
Stadium: Do'stlik Stadium
16 July Friendly Uzbekistan  1–4  India Tashkent, Uzbekistan
20:30 UTC+5:30 Report
Stadium: Do'stlik Stadium
6 August 2026 AFC U20 WACQ India  0–0  Indonesia Yangon, Myanmar
18:00 UTC+5:30 Report Stadium: Thuwunna Stadium
Referee: Nurul Ain Izatty Zainal (MAS)
8 August 2026 AFC U20 WACQ Turkmenistan  0–7  India Yangon, Myanmar
18:00 UTC+5:30 Report
Stadium: Thuwunna Stadium
Referee: Sunita Thongthawin (THA)
10 August 2026 AFC U20 WACQ Myanmar  0–1  India Yangon, Myanmar
15:00 UTC+5:30 Report Pooja 27' Stadium: Thuwunna Stadium
Referee: Nurul Ain Izatty (MAS)
25 October Friendly Kazakhstan  2–3  India Shymkent, Kazakhstan
11:30 UTC+5:30 Report Stadium: Sports Complex BIIK Shymkent
28 October Friendly Kazakhstan  1–1  India Shymkent, Kazakhstan
11:30 UTC+5:30 Report
Stadium: Sports Complex BIIK Shymkent
29 November Friendly India  1–0  Uzbekistan Mamallapuram, India
17:00 UTC+5:30 Stadium: Scamper Park (FC Madras Academy)
2 December Friendly India  4–2  Uzbekistan Mamallapuram, India
17:00 UTC+5:30 Report Stadium: Scamper Park (FC Madras Academy)

2026

19 February Unofficial friendly Hammarby women Sweden 6–0  India Stockholm, Sweden
18:30 IST
  • ? 16', 22', 53', 59', 77', 85'
Report Stadium: Hammarby IP
22 February Unofficial friendly Täby women Sweden 0–4  India Lidingö, Sweden
–:– IST Report
Stadium: Bosön
25 February Unofficial friendly Enskede women Sweden 1–1  India Lidingö, Sweden
–:– IST ?? 88' Report Nongmeikapam 44' Stadium: Bosön
28 February Unofficial friendly Karlbergs women Sweden 2–1  India Lidingö, Sweden
–:– IST
  • ?? 58'
  • ?? 72'
Report
Stadium: Bosön
5 March Unofficial friendly Älvsjö women Sweden 2–5  India Lidingö, Sweden
–:– IST
  • ??
  • ??
Report
Stadium: Bosön
2 April AFC U-20 Asian Cup Japan  v  India Pathum Thani, Thailand
20:00 UTC+7 Stadium: Thammasat Stadium

Coaching staff

As of July 2025, following are the current coaching staffs:[17]
Position Name
Head coach Sweden Joakim Alexandersson
Assistant coach India Rutuja Shinde
Goalkeeper coach India KK Hameed
Strength and conditioning coach
Performance analyst India Prajval VC

Players

Current squad

The following 24 players were called for the Sweden preparatory camp in February 2026.[17]

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Monalisha Devi Moirangthem (2006-07-03) 3 July 2006 (age 19) 10 0 All India Football Federation Sribhumi
1GK Nandini Mattu (2007-06-06) 6 June 2007 (age 18) 0 0 All India Football Federation Sethu
1GK Ribansi Jamu (2008-12-18) 18 December 2008 (age 17) 1 0 All India Football Federation Garhwal United

2DF Cindy Colney (2007-03-26) 26 March 2007 (age 18) 11 1 All India Football Federation Nita
2DF Nishima Kumari (2007-07-13) 13 July 2007 (age 18) 6 0 All India Football Federation Sribhumi
2DF Remi Thokchom (2008-03-14) 14 March 2008 (age 18) 7 0 All India Football Federation Gokulam Kerala
2DF Ruchi Yadav (2006-01-01) 1 January 2006 (age 20) 0 0 All India Football Federation Sethu
2DF Sahena TH (2006-03-14) 14 March 2006 (age 20) 7 0 All India Football Federation Gokulam Kerala
2DF Shubhangi Singh (2006-06-11) 11 June 2006 (age 19) 20 2 All India Football Federation Gokulam Kerala
2DF Thoibisana Chanu Toijam (2007-03-07) 7 March 2007 (age 19) 12 1 All India Football Federation Sribhumi

3MF Anju Chanu Kayenpaibam (2007-03-02) 2 March 2007 (age 19) 9 1 All India Football Federation Sethu
3MF Arina Devi Nameirakpam (2008-03-04) 4 March 2008 (age 18) 8 1 All India Football Federation Sribhumi
3MF Bhumika Devi Khumukcham (2007-02-15) 15 February 2007 (age 19) 6 0 All India Football Federation Nita
3MF Misha Bhandari (2006-06-30) 30 June 2006 (age 19) 0 0 The Football Association Loughborough University
3MF Monisha Singha (2007-01-13) 13 January 2007 (age 19) 4 0 All India Football Federation Garhwal United
3MF Neha Sillay (2006-05-19) 19 May 2006 (age 19) 20 8 All India Football Federation Nita
3MF Pooja (2007-02-07) 7 February 2007 (age 19) 14 8 All India Football Federation HOPS
3MF Shruti Kumari (2006-02-25) 25 February 2006 (age 20) 0 0 All India Football Federation Garhwal United

4FW Babita Kumari (2008-08-02) 2 August 2008 (age 17) 7 0 All India Football Federation Nita
4FW Deepika Pal (2008-01-22) 22 January 2008 (age 18) 6 0 All India Football Federation Garhwal United
4FW Lhingdeikim Kipgen (2008-01-23) 23 January 2008 (age 18) 7 1 All India Football Federation Garhwal United
4FW Shilji Shaji (2007-03-13) 13 March 2007 (age 19) 1 0 All India Football Federation Gokulam Kerala
4FW Sibani Devi Nongmeikapam (2007-01-13) 13 January 2007 (age 19) 14 8 All India Football Federation Sribhumi
4FW Sulanjana Raul (2007-06-04) 4 June 2007 (age 18) 9 6 All India Football Federation East Bengal

Recent call-ups

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Melody Chanu Keisham (2006-03-02) 2 March 2006 (age 20) 5 0 India Gokulam Kerala  Uzbekistan, December 2025

DF Alina Chingakham (2008-06-07) 7 June 2008 (age 17) 4 0 India Gokulam Kerala  Uzbekistan, December 2025
DF Juhi Singh (2007-07-29) 29 July 2007 (age 18) 3 0 India Garhwal United  Uzbekistan, December 2025
DF Viksit Bara (2008-04-08) 8 April 2008 (age 17) 5 0 India Indian Arrows  Uzbekistan, December 2025
DF Sanjita Devi Thingbaijam (2006-09-10) 10 September 2006 (age 19) 1 0 India Garhwal United Pink Ladies U20 Youth Cup

MF Khushbu Saroj (2007-05-16) 16 May 2007 (age 18) 3 0 India Kemp  Uzbekistan, December 2025

FW Kajol D'Souza (2006-04-28) 28 April 2006 (age 19) 11 2 Saudi Arabia Al-Amal  Kazakhstan, October 2025
FW Fragrancy Riwan (2006-09-02) 2 September 2006 (age 19) 1 0 India Garhwal United  Uzbekistan, July 2025

Competitive record

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup

India has never qualified for the under-20 women's world cup, but had come close to qualify in 2004 where they needed to qualify for finals but ended up getting knocked out in quarterfinals.[18]

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup record
Host/Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA GD
Canada 2002 to
Colombia 2024
Did not qualify
Poland 2026 To be determined
Total 0/12 0 Titles

AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup

India was the first nation to host AFC U-20 women's championship. In that edition, they failed to progress to the knockouts stage as they finished below South Korea and Japan. However, in the next edition India qualified for the quarterfinals, but were thrashed 10–0 by North Korea. In the next edition, which was also the last time they played this tournament, India suffered massive defeats as they finished bottom of their group of four teams with -31 as goal difference.[19]

AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup record Qualification record
Host/Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA GD Pld W D* L GF GA GD
India 2002 Group Stage 7th 3 1 0 2 6 13 −7 No Qualification
China 2004 Quarterfinal 8th 4 2 0 2 3 14 −11
Malaysia 2006 Group Stage 7th 3 0 0 3 0 31 −31 2 2 0 0 16 0 +16
China 2007 Did not qualify 4 2 0 2 13 7 +6
China 2009 4 0 0 4 1 38 −37
Vietnam 2011 3 2 0 1 10 4 +6
China 2013 5 2 0 3 2 25 −23
China 2015 3 1 0 2 4 6 −2
China 2017 2 0 1 1 1 5 −4
Thailand 2019 3 2 0 1 19 2 +17
Uzbekistan 2022 Cancelled Cancelled
Uzbekistan 2024 Did not qualify 3 2 1 0 14 1 +13
Thailand 2026 Qualified 3 2 1 0 8 0 +8
Total 4/12 0 Titles 10 3 0 7 9 58 −49 32 15 3 14 88 88 0

SAFF U-18/U-19/U-20 Women's Championship

SAFF U-18/U-19/U-20 Women's Championship record
Host/Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA GD
Bhutan 2018 Semi-final 3rd 4 3 0 1 14 1 +13
Bangladesh 2021 Runners-up 2nd 5 3 0 2 9 2 +7
India 2022 Champion 1st 4 3 0 1 13 2 +11
Bangladesh 2023 Group stage 3rd 3 1 1 1 13 3 +10
Bangladesh 2024 Champion 1st 4 2 1 1 15 2 +13
Bangladesh 2025 Did not participate
Nepal 2026 Participated by India U17 team[a]
Total 5/7 2 Titles 20 12 2 6 64 10 +54
  • DNP : Did not participate
  • DNQ : Did not qualify
  1. ^ Though the tournament is for U-20 age group, India fielded their U-17 team as a preparatory tournament for the 2026 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup.[20]

Pink Ladies U20 Youth Cup

Overall competitive records

As of 10 August 2025 vs  Myanmar (excluding friendlies & minor tournaments)
Competition Pld W D L GF GA GD Win%
FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 0 0 0 0 0 0 +0 !
AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup 10 3 0 7 9 58 −49 030.00
AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup Qualification 32 15 3 14 88 88 +0 046.88
SAFF U-20 Women's Championship 20 12 3 5 64 10 +54 060.00
Total 62 30 6 26 161 156 +5 048.39

Head-to-head record

As of 10 August 2025 vs  Myanmar (excluding friendlies & minor tournaments)

The following table shows India's head-to-head record in the official tournaments of AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup (including qualifiers) and SAFF U-20 Women's Championship.

  Positive Record   Neutral Record   Negative Record

Opponent Pld W D L GF GA GD Win %
 Australia 1 0 0 1 0 18 −18 000.00
 Bangladesh 10 4 2 4 18 5 +13 040.00
 Bhutan 5 5 0 0 30 0 +30 100.00
 Chinese Taipei 3 0 0 3 0 17 −17 000.00
 Guam 1 1 0 0 6 0 +6 100.00
 Hong Kong 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1 100.00
 Indonesia 2 1 1 0 6 0 +6 050.00
 Iran 3 0 1 2 4 9 −5 000.00
 Japan 2 0 0 2 0 15 −15 000.00
 Jordan 3 2 0 1 7 3 +4 066.67
 Kyrgyzstan 1 1 0 0 7 0 +7 100.00
 Lebanon 1 1 0 0 3 1 +2 100.00
 Maldives 1 1 0 0 8 0 +8 100.00
 Myanmar 3 1 0 2 2 10 −8 033.33
 North Korea 2 0 0 2 0 24 −24 000.00
   Nepal 7 4 1 2 19 7 +12 057.14
 Pakistan 1 1 0 0 18 0 +18 100.00
 Singapore 3 3 0 0 15 0 +15 100.00
 South Korea 2 0 0 2 0 15 −15 000.00
 Sri Lanka 1 1 0 0 5 0 +5 100.00
 Thailand 3 1 0 2 2 14 −12 033.33
 Turkmenistan 1 1 0 0 7 0 +7 100.00
 Uzbekistan 2 1 1 0 5 2 +3 050.00
 Vietnam 3 0 1 2 1 15 −14 000.00
Total 62 30 6 26 161 156 +5 048.39

See also

References

  1. ^ "Asian Women u19 2006". Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Asian Women U-19 Championship 2004". Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Asian Women U-19 Championship 2002". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Asian Women U-19 Championship 2004". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Asian Women U-19 Championship 2006". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Asian Women U-19 Championship 2007". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  7. ^ "Asian Women U-19 Championship 2009". Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  8. ^ "India bs pakistan 2019 AFC qualification". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  9. ^ a b "INDIA UPSET THAILAND 1-0 IN AFC U-19 WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  10. ^ "NEPAL BEAT INDIA 2-0 IN AFC U-19 WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  11. ^ "INDIA ROUT BHUTAN 4-0 IN SAFF U-18 WOMEN'S U-18 CHAMPIONSHIP OPENER". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Archived from the original on 7 December 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  12. ^ "INDIA THRASH MALDIVES 8-0 TO BOOK SPOT IN SAFF U-18 WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINAL". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  13. ^ "INDIA LOSE TO NEPAL IN SAFF U-18 WOMEN'S C'SHIP SEMIFINAL AFTER HEARTBREAKING PENALTY SHOOTOUT". the-aiff.com/. AIFF. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  14. ^ "INDIA U-18s DEFEAT BHUTAN TO FINISH THIRD IN SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP". the-aiff.com. AIFF. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  15. ^ "Pti". www.ptinews.com. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  16. ^ PTI. "SAFF U-19 Women's final: India face gritty Bangladesh in summit clash". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  17. ^ a b "India U20 women leave for training camp in Sweden friendlies". AIFF. 5 February 2026.
  18. ^ "Asian Women U-19 Championship 2004". Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  19. ^ "Asian Women u19 2006". Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  20. ^ "23-member Indian squad leave for Pokhara to play SAFF U19 Women's C'ship". All India Football Federation. 29 January 2026. Archived from the original on 30 January 2026. Retrieved 30 January 2026.